Slot machines, poker machines, blackjack machines and similar gaming machines are abundant. Some, such as slot machines, may be mechanical devices without any video component. Machines to play card games, as well as slot machines, are more and more based upon a video monitor as the display mechanism for the game, with the game itself governed by a microprocessor-based system.
The popularity of the games, and these gaming machines, derive from a number of factors, some of which are the apparent likelihood of winning (typically money in a wagering environment), the attractiveness of the game machine, and the basic level of entertainment provided by the game/machine. It is therefore one general driving force in the gaming industry to come up with new and exciting games and gaming machines which will attract players, entertain them, and promote repeated play.
One way that has been tried to accomplish the foregoing has been to enhance the play of a base game, where the base game may be a relatively standard-type game already established in the industry, with a bonus game. Such a bonus game can be one which is similar to the underlying game being played, or can be completely unrelated to the base game in the sense of being a game different from that being played as the base game. For instance, the bonus round could be a separate wheel which is spun in the course of play of a slots game when triggered by some event in the slots game.
In general, the bonus game will ordinarily have some increased value associated with its play, and/or a statistically higher probability of success, just to name two ways in which a heightened player appeal may be generated. A bonus game along some of the foregoing lines previously developed by the inventor hereof is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,098.